Yikes!!!

As soon as I stopped wearing a heavy coat outside, I started snake watch. I'm super paranoid.

I have many small blueberry bushes with tiny berries (already!) and I hung rubber snakes from the Dollar Tree in several of them to keep the birds away.

So far they've scared me out of my pants twice. And I put them there.

Jo

LOL Jo! Do those snakes work on rabbits too? A few weeks ago my blueberry bush was a shrub and now it looks like a very short tree thanks to them. Chicken wire is definitely on my list for my next trip to the hardware store.

YIKES! is right, kellyp!
Had to chuckle, Jo, at the scare from the rubber snakes! Those blueberries had better be worth it, huh?!
I have a fear of being bitten by a snake, as I live alone and far enough out in the country that it would be difficult to drive myself to the ER. I will certainly start being more alert and stay out of the tall grass!

Jeanie

I dunno but for a buck it's worth a try...you need to MOVE them every 1-2 days.

This article on fake snakes in the garden is cracking me up

http://www.ehow.com/how_2314093_scare-birds-fake-snakes.html

"If you are afraid to touch the fake snakes, use tongs or a stick".

Yup, that would be me. EEEK!

Jo

Jeanie,

Snakes come up whenever it is warm enough, so anytime from March to May depending on the weather. One of my neighbors said he saw snakes out in February, but I think he was just trying to scare me.

You'll get used to seeing the snakes. Some days I see more snakes than people, and that's not a good thing.

One day I'll tell you the story of the hawk/rattlesnake death battle in my butterfly bed. It has a sad ending for everyone involved. I'm just too tired to type it all out tonight.

I've never been bitten, but have had a pygmy rattlesnake 2" from my hand once and have stepped right over copperheads while mowing the yard. The snake here that scares me most is the timber rattler. The snakes that aggravated me the most are chicken snakes and rat snakes because they eat our eggs and kill our chickens. We return the favor by shooting them if we catch them in the act.

There's one snake I like to see and it is the rough green tree snake. They're a pretty color and I like seeing them sitting up in the trees.

Last year I had a close encounter (inches away, not feet) with a water moccasin and it upset me so much, I thought about removing the lily pond so it wouldn't happen again. So far, the lily pond is still here, but that particular snake isn't....he sleeps with the fishes.

You can take the girl out of the city but you can't take the city out of the girl....I hate snakes. The ladies who grew up here just pick up a hoe and chop them up. I stand and guard the snake and call DH or the nearest neighbor to come deal with them. I learned the hard way that if you go inside to get a gun or a tool, the snake disappears and then you have to worry about where it went and when you're going to see it again.

We have almost 15 acres and the snakes are free to roam as they please on the approx. 10 or 11 wooded acres, but we don't tolerate them up close to the house, barn, garden, yard and chicken coops. We either chase them off or kill them if they're a threat to the safety of the people or pets who live here.

Dawn

Dawn,
I have seen all sorts of "critters" since I moved out here, can even hear the roars of the lions from the Exotic Animal Park nearby, but the snakes strike the most fear in me. I've only actually seen four, and that includes the one hanging down from the claws of the hawk today. It took a couple of seconds for it to register as to what I was seeing. It was a weird sight, and I did not even know hawks could lift something that big off the ground. They say non-poisoness snakes have round eyes and poisoness snakes have cat-shaped eyes. HAH! Like I am getting close enough to see the shape of their eyes! My neighbor is always telling me about seeing rattlers, and with the farm ponds and river nearby, I feel certain there are moccasins and cottonmouths. A baby snake went slithering through one of my flowerbeds one day when I was out there. Still don't know where he went, but I understand their venom is just about as bad as their parents. All I know is, I keep my property mowed in Summer, but unfortunately, the man who owns the surrounding acres does not mow and the grass is about two feet tall, along with several brush piles made up of cedars he cut down right after I moved in. Extreme fire danger and "critter" danger surrounding my property. At the risk of being a grumpy OF, I have considered lodging a complaint with the local FD. Probably wouldn't do any good, as he owns most of this land out here, cattle and lives in a huge house on the hilltop! So far, I just mind my business and tend to my little 1 and 1/4 acre area. So much for my "piece-o-pasture" existance, snakes and all. You will have to share your hawk and snake story, when you have time.

Jeanie

I only get the little garden snakes in the metro, and they seem to only come out in the evening and early, early morning. I never see them when the sun's up. Of course, I just let them be anyway because they are beneficial.

I miss having my toad and wish one would show up again. Where I grew up in SE Kansas, we had mostly Copperheads, easily distinguished from other snakes, unless you mistakenly think you've found a corn snake. In which case, I err on the side of caution.........leave it alone and run, Forest, run.....

Susan